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The Bane of Political Parties

Harlingen, Texas, October 30, 2011: When it comes to viewing the workings of political parties my reaction has always been to see them as a destructive force, which impedes good governance. These views have been fostered over the many years I have witnessed both the Democrat and Republican Party move their political agendas foreword, quite often to the determent of the American public.

The Founding fathers were themselves at odds with political parties. George Washington was the first to speak of this saying, “I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all."

Thomas Jefferson spoke on political parties a decade later. "The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection."

If these wise creators of our Republic thought so ill of political parties how can we, as modern day Americans, embrace them? Today we have a President in the White House of one political party, a House of Representatives with the majority of the opposing political party and the Senate holding the majority of votes for the party of the President. We are also in the political season leading up to a major election, which means there is nobody willing to compromise or give the advantage to the opposition.

Added to all this political stalemate mess is an economy at the bottom of the barrel, an unemployment mess nobody can resolve, a national debt so large it will crash the country without a strong financial repair, underwater mortgages and foreclosures in every neighborhood, banks flush with dollars they refuse to lend, an impossible calculus trying to fathom the a way to prosperity and the first winter storm of the season hitting the east coast.

The one thing that separates man from beast is the ability to think. It was positive and progressive thought that gave us everything from finding shelter from the storms in pre-historic caves to nuclear power and the iPhone. It is also a truth that any thinking man or woman in politics is limited or restricted in their action by the political party they serve. Many good ideas cannot be advanced because of party ideology.

Would it not be a wonderful thing if we had a President of the United States, 435 members of the House of Representatives and 100 members of the Senate who were all individual thinkers, not affiliated with any political party? Why there might even be some positive thought coming out of such a large body. There might be ideas that could be shared among like thinkers and a consensus reached that would accommodate all Americans. There might be some creative, problem solving ideas that would help the nation, instead of only those ideas that had the blessing of all the political hacks who lead and bankroll “The Party”. But, that would be a sensible way to approach problems and reach solutions. Such things will never happen as long as political parties control the country.

Your Opinions and Comments

Party politics might very well be everything suggested and worse, corrupt and often destructive. The same could be said of the entire process, with money and greed at the root of the evil.
However, I'm not certain that the ... More ›

Party politics might very well be everything suggested and worse, corrupt and often destructive. The same could be said of the entire process, with money and greed at the root of the evil.
However, I'm not certain that the alternative is even possible, given human nature and the unavoidable tendency toward forming coalitions. The obvious strategy of strength in numbers is just a fact of life, and any system of restraints or regulations to prevent that strategy merely presents obstacles to work around, and produce a complicated web of deception, e.g. campaign finance laws.
Plus, the parties would never allow a vote to do away with themselves. We can't even get them to cut their own salaries or benefits in the face of bankruptcy. This system cannot be changed from within.